jzfran wrote:Here's my take. This amount of money is ridiculous. It just drove up the market price for other big names once their contracts are up (Santana, Peavy, etc.). A good point was made on the radio this afternoon. This rise in salary we've had over the past ten years has been felt by the fans, not the owners. It costs $300 to take a family of four to a ballgame. If guys like Clemens keep jacking up the price, it will cost even more to go to a game and a whole generation of fans will struggle to ever get to a ballgame, even though each team plays 81 at home each season.

Also, he is 45 years old I believe. You can't think he's going to be Cy Young at that age. The Yankees did the stupidest job spending $200 million this year I have ever seen. They got no pitching that was any good with that money. This was a panic move IMO.

Baseball needs a floor and cieling for salaries. Each team should have to pay at least $x and no more than $y per season. That would be the most fair for baseball, but that's another story.

See...here's what I'm talking about.

A Red Sox fan complaining about the Yankees payroll. It's ridiculous. If a Royals fan wants to b!tch at me for my team spending so much money...so be it. I accept it. I don't deny that my team has an edge and that it takes advantage of that edge. I don't deny that my team tries to buy World Series'. I'll deal with the fans who give me crap over that.

But I will NOT stand by and listen to Red Sox fans criticize my team for that. You have no right or reason to do so. You guys spend more than everyone ELSE in baseball, and aren't too far behind us. You guys posted an insane number to TALK to Matsuzaka, and keep him away from the Yankees (and every other team in the league). Did you guys hear Yankee fans b!tching about it? No.

You guys play the same game we do. It's all within the rule book. Some fans may see it as unfair, and that's their right. You may even say it's unfair AS a Red Sox or Yankees fan. But you CANNOT be a fan of one team and criticize the other without putting blame on YOUR franchise as well.

Neither franchise is at fault (baseball is), but both equally partake in it...so let's not act as if there is one culprit and one culprit alone. I, as a die-hard Yankee fan, know and openly admit to my team's overspending of money. Some good Red Sox fans do as well, for their franchise. The rest of you need to wake up and smell the coffee.

This isn't about me being a Sox fan. I'm one of the fans who willingly admits that we too spend a whole lot of $$ and we make plenty of bad decisions. I just feel that the Yankees this year really mismanaged their $$. As for baseball, the sport is a distant #3 in popularity in kids nowadays. Most kids are basketball and football fans. It's sad seeing baseball falling down the ladder in sports as players make more and more money and fans can afford to go to fewer and fewer games. Also note, I am in favor of a salary minimum and salary cap, which would definately hurt my Red Sox so this isn;t about me bashing the Yankees.

As for Roger, is he really worth being almost the highest paid player ever for about 20 starts? IMO, no he isn't. However, I applaud Steinbrenner for spending the$$ unlike many of the other big league owners.

On a side note, I expect Yankees vs. Sox in the ALCS despite the Yanks' struggles thusfar. Should be fun.

Seriously, why does everything have to be about Boston vs. NY...

I think a family of 4 can go to a game in Oakland for ~$50, and $5 of that went to some bum in the parking lot so "nothing bad will happen to your car."

I read in an article recently that Lance Berkman had told reporters that he knew for a fact that Clemens was going to NY after Andy Pettitte signed. This is probably the closest thing we'll get to proof that he went there primarily for friends (and money ), not just whoever the highest bidder was. Lance would obviously know more about Clemens than any of us.

Here's an important point that has been overlooked in the frenzy to indict Clemens and the Yanks for greed and lavish spending: Clemens got essentially the same deal last year -- including the perks -- from the Houston Astros. The deal was for $22M, if I recall, so the $28M the Yanks are paying is comparable to that amount if adjusted to account for the big SP contracts this offseason (Matsuzaka, Zito, etc.) that jacked up their value.

People are carrying on like Clemens' deal was unprecedented and it clearly is not.

I am the Master. Don't question the Master. Just do what he says and be proud.

nsulham wrote:Another question I have while I remember it, and I'm not trying to stir up trouble, I'm just curious.

What happened to NY's supposed youth movement? I understand when you're dealing with the Yankees you'll never have a "rebuilding" phase but last summer they refused to move Wang or Cano for help because they wanted to get younger and cheaper.

Now you bring in Clemens, not to mention Petitte, who are both anything but younger and cheaper.

Is it as simple as desperate times call for desperate measures? I know I heard on the radio this morning that guys like Clemens, Moose and Petitte will only be around for the next 1-2 years to serve as a bridge to Wang, Hughes, etc.

Are they ever going to commit to youth or will they always bring in the big-ticket players, even if they are on their last legs, when times are tough?

They will never completely commit to youth but I'm sure that you know that. Signing a veteran or 2 to 1-2 years doesn't affect that in the least. To me, it says that they want to win now and bridge the gap for the kids in the process.